Horrifying Realities Of The 'Harry Potter' Government

While Harry Potter's world looks like it would be full of whimsical adventures, once you stop and think about all the oppression, violence, and militant isolationism, it's more like the magical equivalent of North Korea. That's because in the Wizarding World ... (click for full article) http://goo.gl/3H4M9c

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The Legal System Protects No One

When an elf magically threw a cake at his aunt, Harry Potter was almost expelled from Hogwarts for it. That's because although the Ministry Of Magic can instantly tell when an underage wizard performs magic around regular humans, they can't pinpoint the caster. That's like someone getting arrested because a gunshot was heard in his or her neighborhood.

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The Entire Penal System Is Based Around Terror And Pain

Azkaban is in the middle of an ocean, and it makes Guantanamo Bay look like spring break on South Padre Island. Hagrid called his imprisonment one of the worst experiences of his life, and he was only there for a few months. Sirius spent years there, and he came out prone to fits of anger, moodiness, irrational decisions, and bitchiness to house elves.

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The Government Is An Incompetent Dictatorship

The Minister For Magic (the wizard president, basically) is technically elected, but everything the series showed us makes it seem like a dictatorship. Unlike in America, where the president can't suggest giving free puppies to veterans without half of Congress calling him the next Hitler, the Minister can order everyone around at will, with no checks or balances.

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Most Wizards Are Selfish Dickheads

Let's take food. Now, every single one of you already know that food is the first of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, which means you can't magically conjure food out of nothing. But, you can conjure water at will, and you can multiply or enlarge pre-existing food with no apparent limit. In other words, a single wizard could prevent anyone in the world from ever dying of starvation or thirst ever again.

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Wizards Should Be Viewed As An Unchecked Superpower

They can pop into the cockpit of a plane and zap the pilot dead with their wand -- not only does the plane crash, but there wouldn't even be evidence of foul play. Zap into the control room of a nuclear power plant or a missile base ... use your imagination. The ability to instantly teleport and instantly kill pretty much turns you into a god.